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Jade Raymond: Industry Does Not Need New Consoles To Be Innovative

Ubisoft executive Jade Raymond, best known for her role as producer of the original Assassin’s Creed, has challenged the belief that a new generation of video game consoles are required for the industry to develop innovative software.

Speaking to MCV as part of a yet-to-be-published interview, Raymond explained that some of the most creative new concepts that are happening now are coming from independent game developers.

“As a gamer and developer I’m very excited about the promise of Next Gen. That being said, innovation is not necessarily driven by teraflops alone. In my opinion, many of the most exciting new concepts lately have been driven out of the indie scene and have come to life on less powerful platforms.”

“With Splinter Cell Blacklist, not only do I think that the team is delivering the best stealth experience of this generation, I also think that we are delivering a completely new multiplayer experience. Hopefully unique gameplay is still something that can make a game stand out.”

Jade Raymond’s comments are clearly meant to defend Splinter Cell: Blacklist as an innovative title, despite the fact that its current generation release is sure to come around the same time that Microsoft and Sony are launching their next generation consoles. Still, it is extremely refreshing to hear this type of sentiment come from someone of her position in the industry.

We have been told far too many times over the last couple of years that new video game IPs and new ideas can not happen until a new round of consoles hit the market. Of course, this line of thinking is complete nonsense, as extremely innovative and creative games have been developed for decades on much weaker systems than the ones currently sitting in our living rooms.

Regardless of the motive behind her comments, I applaud Jade Raymond for stating the obvious and not joining her colleagues in beating the next generation console drum as an excuse to cover up a lack of software innovation.